


My Very Soul

by Blue_Sparkle



Series: Stories of Dwarves, a Hobbit, and their Souls [1]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, One Shot, alternative universe, daemon!AU - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-23
Updated: 2013-10-23
Packaged: 2017-12-30 06:33:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1015327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Sparkle/pseuds/Blue_Sparkle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daemon AU; Dwalin finds something, Nori loses something, and an interesting idea develops in a dark alley</p>
            </blockquote>





	My Very Soul

**Author's Note:**

> mild waring for someone nearly working themselves into a panic

It was already dark when Dwalin finally made his way back home. The streets were deserted and from the look of most houses around him, this part of town was still largely unpopulated after too many of the former residents hadn’t returned from that war.  
It did nothing to improve Dwalin’s mood.  
"You should have stayed for another night", a soft voice stated behind him. Dwalin only spared a brief glance at the bear walking behind him and then fixed his eyes back on the street.

“You know I couldn’t bear it for another” he told her and heard her soft sigh in reply. Muya knew too well that Dwalin hated the healer’s quarters and would have left as soon as he could walk without getting dizzy from it, there was nothing she could say to convince him. And he knew that she was glad to leave too.

Muya was much smaller than any real bear would be, and still she was huge compared to other Dwarves’ daemons, just like Dwalin was taller than most. Still she managed to walk near soundlessly, always trailing behind him, mostly so far that he couldn’t even see her at times. He always knew she was there, knew that she did it to prevent scaring strangers who happened to see the warrior with his bear.

She was tired now, just as Dwalin was, though she thankfully did not share his injuries. 

The right side of his face throbbed slightly, though the wound cutting over his eyebrow and nose had healed, and his arms were freshly bruised all over. He felt like throwing up and his stomach felt like it was in a painful knot, where an orc had managed to crush a mace against his armour hard enough to knock him off his feet. 

The most recent fight had been against few Orcs, nothing compared to what Dwalin had seen before, but they were vicious, and he was so weary, he could barely stand on uneventful days. 

Nearly a year had passed after the War, life was slowly returning to how it had been before, and still Dwalin’s bones felt too heavy for even him to move with ease. It had never been like that, and how could such a young and healthy warrior as himself feel so damaged? 

Dwalin had not talked about it to anyone; Muya knew anyway, Balin had business away in the Iron Hills and Thorin really had other problems. And who wanted to deal with the stupid complains of someone who just felt…tired.

It wasn’t even the sort of tiredness that could be cured by sleep, no matter how much Dwalin had gotten to sleep in between the journeys through the Blue Mountains, he still felt as bad as before. It didn’t stop him from trying though.

The only thought in Dwalin’s head was to let himself fall into bed, and maybe drink some of the medicine he hoped was still in the cabinet, so he did not notice the tiny fox crouching against a wall right where he was going. The sight of the bright red fur startled Dwalin out of his numbness and he stopped to stare at it. 

Wild animals such as foxes hardly ever walked about through the settlements of Dwarves, even an above ground one like this one. The fox was a small thing, looking too thin and its fur was pretty but scruffy, its golden eyes watched Dwalin tiredly but without fear. 

“Not gonna run?” he asked and walked closer slowly, waiting for the fox to jump up and flee. It didn’t though. “Have you seen scarier people or are you just used to Dwarves?”

Somehow he expected the fox to speak, but it only yapped quietly, still watching him. Of course it wasn’t anyone’s daemon, or else it would have gone away or ignored him, just like all strangers’ did.

Dwalin kneeled down, just far enough from the fox to not be able to reach it with his hands, in case it got spooked after all.

“I have nothing edible to offer you now, I am sorry. Tomorrow perhaps, if yer still here?”

And now he was talking to random animals, wonderful. Why had he even stopped for it in the first place? 

The fox hesitated for a few moments and then it stood up walked towards Dwalin and pressed its body against his legs, rubbing up against his trousers and his hands.

Dwalin hesitantly reached out to pet the fox’s back, fingers trailing through the soft fur. It leaned into his touch, putting its tiny black paws up his trousers and raising its tail. It watched Dwalin with an expectant expression, repeatedly trying to stand up higher by using him as a support. 

Dwalin knew that one should leave wild animals be, unless you were hunting, but the fox looked so hopeful like that he sighed and picked it up after all. He slowly got up to his feet again and apart from squirming a little to make itself comfortable the fox showed no sign of distress. Perhaps it wasn’t as wild as he had assumed?

With one last glance towards were Muya was still making her way out of sight Dwalin wrapped his arms under the fox carefully and proceeded to walk the last bit towards the house he and Balin used when coming to these parts of the Mountains. He took great care to no accidentally hurt the fox, but it seemed content where it was, idly scratching against the leather of his knuckledusters once in a while but otherwise unmoving.

Once he reached the house Dwalin let the fox jump to the ground and walked upstairs to where he had put up the cot he slept in. The weariness from before had returned, stronger than before, leaving him unable to make himself get up again. He had wanted to search for something to numb the pain of his bruises but now even that seemed too much.

The fox walked into the room, claws clicking softly as it sniffed around and examined the corners. Dwalin watched it for a while before he leaned back against the bed and closed his eyes to try and fall asleep.

There was a soft rustling of the blankets he hadn’t even bothered to pull over himself and then the fox was on his chest, snuggling up against him. Dwalin cracked open an eye to look down at where it had rolled up comfortably. Its golden eyes stared at him and then it buried its face in the fur of its tail, falling asleep instantly. 

It didn’t move away when Dwalin brought up a hand to pet the silky fur. He watched it for a while, feeling somehow calmed by the small warm creature by his side. He drifted off to sleep with his fingers in the fox’s fur and the sound of Muya’s paws on the floor one room down.

 

******

The sky was dark and Nori wasn’t sure where to go. It would get too cold at night, perhaps, but the abandoned attic he had slept in last night had looked like it might break in any moment. And it was just so…. Isolated from everything and anyone.

Nori had spend more time apart from his family and away from the settlements they lived in before, but he had never been so on his own. There weren’t many honest criminals about, with the War those had disappeared and been replaced by folk that Nori dared not to cross. He was too young to be respected yet, didn’t even have a proper beard yet, and too inexperienced to protect himself from gangs. Even now, more than a year later, it wasn’t that much better.

Everyone was struggling to get by and Nori knew that there was no reason for him to keep wandering around like that, hoping to find a place that was worth staying at for a while. 

He stared up into the sky, thinking about what to do tonight and in the following days.

“We should go back home. There’s nothing for us in this shoddy village.”

Kat sat by his feet, having given up her attempts to get her fur into order and just staring at the ground. She was too thin and her red fur wasn’t as pretty as it usually was, but still she managed to look elegant.

She was right, of course, going home would be the best thing. Nori longed to see his brothers and family. His mother would cook him his favourite food, and Dori would fuss and mend his old clothes. He wanted to be coddled and the warmth of their kitchen, and he could knew that Kat wanted the same, wanted Dori’s Aryissa to fuss over her and clean her fur, wanted Ori’s little Lal’ to cuddle up to her and turn into a fox cub to match Nori’s daemon. 

It could be so _nice_ …

“No.” He shook his head, firm in his decision. “We will only take a while longer. Soon things will get better, and the roads will be safe again. When we go back we’ll be richer, look better and have made a couple of enemies who won’t even know who it is they’re cursing.”

Kat chuckled and nuzzled against his knee.

“Don’t overdo it, Nori. You know how Ary keeps scolding me for letting you do all these things.”

“As if you objecting would ever stop me. You'd question that you’re mine the day I do what you want.”

Kat’s eyes twinkled in her way of laughing and Nori smiled down at her, already feeling a little better.

Suddenly she sat up and stared down the empty road. Nori followed her gaze, hearing the steps nearly immediately. 

“Someone’s coming this way!” he hissed and quickly scrambled up the wall and onto the roof, out of sight, not wanting to risk being seen by anyone who could mean trouble. From the higher point Nori could see the Dwarf coming closer, a warrior from the looks of it, walking slow and with no daemon in sight; dangerous as it might be anything and anywhere.

“A soldier, and perhaps a guard, it’s nearly the same nowadays.” He whispered down to Kat, who had made no move to follow him or find her own hiding spot. She sniffed the air and he felt her sudden excitement.

“A guard?”

Nori felt a cold shiver running down his spine, remembering how they had sat in a inn just a few weeks back, listening to other thieves, talking about how so many times they failed to sneak somewhere because their deamons wanted to run as soon as they noticed a guard. Kat had scoffed and said that she wouldn’t do that should they ever encounter a guard while stealing, how she had said that the others were just cowards.

Knowing her she would want to prove that to herself and Nori.

“Kat, no! Get up here!”

Still she made no move and flicked her tail back and forth, staring to were the soldier would come around the corner soon. “Oh, just watch me.” 

“Katira, I said _get. up_!” Nori contemplated jumping down and snatching her away, but at that exact moment the Dwarf came around the corner and he had to get out of sight.

To his horror he recognized the soldier. Dwalin. With scars that most certainly hadn’t been there before, but unmistakably the same Dwarf that had lived only a few streets away from where Nori had grown up. He knew Nori, had complained about him to his older brother who then occasionally would have to tell Dori in turn. Nori had avoided him mostly, but he knew that Dwalin scorned him

The only good thing about it all was that Kat had never come anywhere near him and had not chosen her final shape back then. Dwalin might not recognize her, would have no reason to harm her or Nori out of spite or just for _knowing_ that he was a thief and couldn’t have any other reason to be away from his town.

Nori watched in horror as Dwalin kneeled down to talk to Kat, assuming that she was just a regular beast before she walked up to him and touched him, touched a stranger without permission. His heart was beating so hard that it was painful. Nori, who had always been so calm and never panicked no matter what, felt so afraid that his hands shook and he couldn’t move at all.

Then Dwalin actually reached out to _touch_ Kat’s fur, and she did not move away, and Dwalin _was touching Nori’s very soul without permission, able to do whatever he wished to him now_. 

Nori had never let _anyone_ touch his daemon, never had trusted anyone to get their hands so close to her. His eyes were fixed on where Dwalin’s fingers moved over red fur, the imagine of those big hands breaking Kat’s bones, crippling her, snapping her neck very real in his head. His stomach clenched and he was sure that he’d be sick any moment now, his entire body shaking like a scared rabbit, hot shivers running down his spine.

His fingers reached into his jacket and his eyes darted from Kat to Dwalin’s back. If he got his knife out and aimed right, he could ram it into his back, taking Dwalin off guard and injuring him enough to grab Katira and run away quick enough before Dwalin or whatever daemon was his would catch up with him.

Right then Dwalin picked up the daemon and walked away. Nori could have cried.

His fingers dug into the wooden beam as he watched Kat being taken away. He vaguely felt the reassurance and calmness coming from her, as she tried to soothe him, but all Nori could do was not to start weeping like a child and demand for his daemon to be returned to him. 

Dwalin was out of sight when Nori finally managed to calm down enough. There really was no reason why Dwalin should hurt Kat, especially as he thought her to be an animal. Even so, Dwalin had been of a good family, not likely to try and keep a daemon for ransom. Kat seemed to be all right too, though perhaps she simply did not want to admit that she had acted foolishly. 

He got up quietly and dashed across the roofs, as quick and soundlessly as he could, following Dwalin at a safe distance, so that he wouldn’t risk him and Kat being separated enough for it to start to get painful. They didn’t go far, Dwalin entered some house in a mostly lived in street and Nori soon found a window through which he could see what was going on inside.

Dwalin had laid down on a bed, looking tired and miserable. Perhaps he had been injured recently? Nori felt a brief pang of guilt for considering stabbing him earlier, but he quickly shoved the feeling away. Kat actually went to lay down on his chest then. The gall of her!

Nori climbed up and onto the roof, angry at the damned fox. Now she just wanted to try and agitate him further. He stared into the street, trying to block out the sudden feeling of an accomplished mischief and happiness coming from Kat. 

A bear made its way below, one of the larger daemons Nori had seen. He watched it go, wondering whose that dangerous yet calm daemon belonged to. The bear stopped right below him and pushed open the doors with its paws, before disappearing into the house. Nori felt his mouth go dry as he realized that that beast was Dwalin’s, and he felt the panic return briefly.

But no, the bear had been so quiet, and Dwalin had done nothing but pet Kat’s fur and fallen asleep. There really was no danger coming from it. The tension left Nori’s body and suddenly he felt very exhausted himself, nearly enough to fall asleep right there on the roof, or even better, climb though the window and curl up in the blankets where Kat was.

A few minutes later the fox stuck her nose out of one of the lower windows, glanced up to where Nori was and then dashed off into an alley. Nori got up with a curse and followed her away.

Once he had caught up with her, he had to resist the urge to snatch her up and bury his face in her fur.

“That” he said instead. “Was the most idiotic thing you have _ever_ done!”

Kat laughed and pranced around proudly. 

“I am, however, the bravest and most daring thief’s daemon to ever exist” she stated and looked up at him, her eyes twinkling.

Nori rolled his eyes and scoffed, trying his best to not show how afraid _he_ had been. He wouldn’t let even Katira see him like that.

“He’s harmless too, he should have noticed what I am but methinks the scariest and biggest Dwarf that ever got so close to me is far more gentle and tired than one would believe.” Kat rolled down on the ground, wrapping her tail neatly around her body. “And there’s nothing worth stealing in his house! Just lots of weapons we have no use for and some chests of clothes.”

That nearly made Nori laugh. Of course she’d check, no matter what else was going on. He sat down beside her and ran his fingers through the short fur on her head, distracting himself from his earlier fear successfully. 

“Why did you let him touch you though?” He asked, hand stilling. “You had already proved enough by getting so close to him?”

Kat raised her head and looked up at Nori, eyes huge and confused.

“I… I don’t know. I just wanted to.”

She hid her muzzle in the fur of her tail and twitched her ears nervously.

“And it felt so nice and safe, like it’s no worse than being home with Ary and Lal’.”

Her tail shifted to cover her face, and after that Kat didn’t say another thing or move at all, no matter how long Nori waited. After a while he sighed and looked around to where the alley lead away from the little corner, before curling up around the fox and falling into a light sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Dori's daemon Aryissa is a Raccoon Dog, Ori's Lal' will settle as a Stoat once they grow up.
> 
> I thank Inja for giving me the idea and discussing headcanons, shapes and names, for the title and for the summary. 
> 
> In my headcanon Dwarves can be away from their daemons for a relatively large distance, miner and warriors often train to further what is still comfortable. Elves have none, Men generally have daemons, Hobbits usually don't. Nobody knows what the Wizzard's are.
> 
> this is a One Shot _so far_. Both Inja and me might write more for that verse eventually


End file.
